Friday, 21 August 2009

Newspaper claims Reds £15m bid for Upson stopped by LFC's bank

Today's Telegraph claims a proposed move by Liverpool to sign Matthew Upson from West Ham United for up to £15 million has collapsed because the Anfield club's bankers are concerned about the scale of the fee.

The highly unlikely article goes on to claim that "West Ham have been prepared to sell Upson, who has two years left on his present contract, if their valuation of £15 million for the central defender is met."

The story also states: "The failure to sign the 30-year-old England international is believed to have been one source of the frustration being felt by Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez."

"Liverpool's interest comes as a major surprise given the size of fee and the age of the player," says the story.

However it is highly unlikely Benitez would pay £15 million for a 30-year-old defender with two years left on his contract no matter how urgent his defensive injury concerns are.

The story by 'Jason Burt Deputy Football Correspondent,' then goes on to highlight the Reds defensive problems and the clubs so called 'cash crisis'. His story also says:

"The Liverpool manager has now agreed a £2 million deal to sign the Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos from AEK Athens."

However the 'Deputy Football Correspondent' then appears to contradict his own words by stating the club has a lack of defensive cover:

"The Merseyside club face a lack of defensive cover with both Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger out, while Sami Hyypia, is yet to be replaced after joining German outfit Bayer Leverkusen in May."

Clearly the writer fails to understand that Greek defender Kyrgiakos will be Hyypia's replacement. I think it's safe to say that the story should be filed under 'B' for bollicks.